Royal Caribbean & Make-A-Wish
Partnership – Industry Project
The Solution
We crafted an innovative web experience that seamlessly integrates donation opportunities within the partnership tab, while enhancing the visibility and impact of the collaboration. Our solution includes a high-fidelity prototype featuring a user-friendly donation flow, live updates on wishes granted, and personalized incentives for contributors. By streamlining the process and showcasing the program’s impact, we created a seamless and inspiring experience that fosters emotional engagement and encourages meaningful action.
Timeline: 5 days
Team: Cynthia Orelien, Maurice Wallace
Tools: Figma, FigJam, Slack, Canva, Adobe Stock
This experience showcased how design can create meaningful connections and drive social impact. 🚢✨
The Challenge
Royal Caribbean’s partnership with Make-A-Wish America lacks visibility and seamless integration into the user experience.
Potential donors and travelers face challenges finding information and donation options, limiting their ability to engage with the program meaningfully.
This gap prevents the partnership from achieving its full potential in driving awareness, donations, and community involvement.
Problem Statement
There is limited visibility and awareness of the "Wish at Sea" program on the Royal Caribbean website, making it difficult for users to access information and donate seamlessly. Currently, users must resort to external searches to find donation links, hindering engagement.
Secondary Research
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The Impact of Make-A-Wish
2022 Wish Impact Survey Results
A study by Make-A-Wish found that 89% of medical professionals observed wishes significantly help children build strength and resilience to fight critical illnesses, with 97% of parents reporting and increase in joy and hope.
What is the Impact of Granting Wishes?
A 2018 study conducted by Dr. Anup D. Patel and Colleagues at Nationwide Children's Hospital examined the impact of Make-A-Wish experiences of healthcare utilization among pediatric patients in the Unted States. The research found that children who received a wish had significantly fewer unplanned hospital admissions and emergency department visits compared to those who did not receive a wish.
Make-A-Wish Reaches Milestone 40 Years in the Making with 500,000th Wish
Make-A-Wish to celebrate 500,000 wishes granted worldwide with 16-year-old Karina's wish to give sick kids a day to forget they're sick.
Assumptions
1. Travelers will be more likely to donate if they feel a personal, emotional connection with the cause.
2. Guests are more likely to contribute if the donation process is integrated smoothly into their cruise booking experience.
3. A follow up will encourage more people to donate and feel gratified.
4. Sharing personal stories will increase traveler empathy and encourage donations.
5. Showing immediate results or feedback on donations will boost future contributions.
How Might We Question?
How might we visually convey the impact of Make-A-Wish to Royal Caribbean’s socially conscious site visitors in a way that captures their attention, fosters transparency, and inspires donations?
Interview Insights
Based on these insights, we created a user persona to represent socially conscious individuals who value emotional engagement, transparency, and a sense of community. This persona helped guide our design decisions, ensuring the solutions align with the motivations, pain points, and goals of our target audience.
Persona
Seeing personal stories and tangible results inspires people to act. When donors see their community or loved ones involved, they feel more motivated to participate. This suggests that adding a community aspect can make donors feel part of a meaningful, impactful movement.
Research Plan
To better understand the motivations and challenges of socially conscious individuals, we approached this research with a structured plan. We focused on Middle-Aged Adults (Ages 35–55) who are regular or occasional travelers, actively supportive of philanthropic causes, and interested in family-friendly or adventure-focused travel experiences, particularly cruises.
More specifically, we targeted participants with the following traits:
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Socially Conscious: Interested in or actively supportive of causes such as community programs, children's charities, or environmental initiatives.
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Donation History: Participants who have donated to charitable causes in the past two years, either online or in person.
This research revealed valuable insights into how socially conscious individuals engage with philanthropic opportunities and travel, shaping the goals and direction of this project to better align with user needs and behaviors.
Based on our persona, Linda, we created a storyboard to showcase her journey.It highlights key moments, such as the user-friendly donation process, transparency, and her emotional connection to the cause. Inspired by the experience, Linda shares the initiative with her family, amplifying its impact.
Story Board
UI Inspiration Board
Exploratory Sketches
We ultimately chose a solution that focuses on enhancing user engagement and simplifying the donation process. Based on our sketches, we designed an interactive experience for Royal Caribbean’s "Wish-at-Sea" program. The homepage prominently showcases the initiative with compelling visuals and a clear call to action. Users can explore impactful stories and proceed seamlessly to a user-friendly donation page. The donation process includes multiple payment options, personalized contribution summaries, and instant transparency through a "thank you" page detailing the impact of their donation. This approach ensures users feel connected, empowered, and part of a meaningful cause.
Key Learnings
Through our research we uncovered key insights to enhance the Royal Caribbean x Make-A-Wish Foundation partnership.
First, emotional connection is crucial; donors feel more engaged when they see direct impact and support from others.
Transparency and trust are essential, with live updates and proof of impact building confidence in donations.
A simple, web-friendly donation process encourages more participation, while incentives, like future cruise credits, motivate ongoing support. Lastly, social sharing with #WishesAtSea broadens the campaign's reach, inspiring a wider community to join in making wishes come true.
Next Steps
Next, we’ll refine the user experience for a seamless donation process, focusing on transparency with live updates and impact tracking.
We will integrate interactive elements to strengthen the connection to the cause.
We’ll also launch the #WishesAtSea social campaign to expand reach and inspire more donors. Finally, continuous testing will ensure each touchpoint fosters engagement, loyalty, and maximizes impact.
A terrible website, someone seeming unknowledgeable about the subject, and lack of diversity in the cause would prevent me from donating
S.B.
Being able to see the hands-on work. That level of transparency helps people feel their impact is meaningful.
G.D.
Thorough information and actual proof that the donation is going to where they promised.
G.R.
The Prototype
About the Hackathon
As part of a 5-day BrainStation x Royal Caribbean Hackathon, our team of UX designers was tasked with creating an innovative solution to enhance the visibility and impact of Royal Caribbean’s partnership with Make-A-Wish America.
Focusing on user needs and business goals, we developed a high-fidelity prototype that seamlessly integrates donation opportunities and inspires meaningful action. This experience highlighted the power of design in driving social impact.
